In recent years, image capturing apparatuses (cameras) using solid-state image sensors, such as a digital still camera and a digital video camera, have rapidly progressed in terms of performance and compactness. For these image capturing apparatuses, a zoom lens is normally used for the image capturing lens. If a zoom lens is used, the user can easily take a picture at an angle of view which is optimum for the image capturing conditions. For the zoom lens, a wider angle of view, a larger aperture ratio and a higher zoom ratio are strongly demanded in order to expand the image capturing area of the camera. For this, a zoom lens which has a wide angle of view and sufficient brightness in the wide-angle end state, and which can perform telephotography, has been proposed (e.g. see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-243637(A)).
This conventional zoom lens, however, does not satisfy the ideal optical performance.
With the foregoing in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a zoom lens and an optical apparatus having an ideal optical performance with a wide-angle of view, a large aperture ratio and a high zoom ratio, and a method for manufacturing the zoom lens.